Labour Tribunal Claim Pack HK: Cap. 25, Cap. 453, 468 Rule

The Labour Tribunal does not expect pleadings from a claimant. A Tribunal Officer interviews you on the filing date and issues the Title to Claim (Form 1) and the Form of Claim (Form 2), which set out each item claimed and how every amount was reached. Form 2 is only as good as what you bring to that interview. Employees who arrive with a stack of payslips and a rough total often leave with a claim that understates holiday pay or ignores commission. The pack is a private working file, not a court form. It feeds the official forms with figures the Tribunal Officer can check line by line.

A letter of demand puts the employer on notice but proves nothing about quantum, and a bare witness statement leaves the arithmetic to the Presiding Officer. The pack does both jobs and prepares the ground for settlement. It also covers the smaller forum: claims of up to HKD 15,000 per claimant, brought by no more than ten claimants, go to the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board (MECAB), run by the Labour Department.

The Tribunal is established under the Labour Tribunal Ordinance (Cap. 25) and hears claims arising from breach of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57), the Minimum Wage Ordinance (Cap. 608) or the Apprenticeship Ordinance (Cap. 47), and from breach of an employment contract, including overseas contracts under Cap. 78. Under section 7(2) that jurisdiction is exclusive: such a claim cannot be brought in any other court unless the Tribunal transfers it under section 10. The Tribunal covers claims above HKD 15,000 for at least one claimant, or brought by more than ten claimants, with no upper limit. Below that line MECAB decides under Cap. 453. Its ceiling rose from HKD 8,000 for claims whose right of action arises wholly or partly on or after 17 September 2021, so a claim that arose wholly before that date keeps the old figure. The Judiciary sets out the registry steps and fees in its guide to filing and hearing a Labour Tribunal claim.

The substantive rules sit in Cap. 57. Wages are payable within seven days of the end of the wage period under section 23, and termination payments within seven days of termination under section 25, except severance, which is payable within two months of the employee's written claim. Continuity follows the 468 rule from 18 January 2026 under the Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2025: 17 hours a week, or 68 hours over four weeks. Since 1 May 2025, accrued benefits from the employer's mandatory MPF contributions can no longer offset the post-transition portion of severance or long service payment. Severance must be claimed from the employer in writing within three months of the dismissal, and the Limitation Ordinance (Cap. 347) allows six years for most contractual claims.

The most common trigger is a dismissal followed by silence. The final payslip is short, notice pay never arrives and the seven-day deadline in section 25 passes. The employer's own termination letter under sections 6, 7 and 9 of Cap. 57 then becomes exhibit one, because it fixes the date and the stated ground. Summary dismissal comes next, where the fight is over whether the conduct justified it under section 9. Wages withheld during employment are the third: after one month of non-payment, section 10A lets the employee leave without notice and claim notice pay as if dismissed.

Resignations generate claims too, usually for pro rata annual leave, an end of year payment that had already fallen due or an unlawful deduction. Some edge cases need care. A worker labelled a freelancer can still claim if the relationship passes the multi-factor test in Poon Chau Nam v Yim Siu Cheung (2007) 10 HKCFAR 156. Where the employee has died before payment, long service payment goes to surviving family members in the order Part VB sets, while unpaid wages fall into the estate, and relatives pursuing them generally need letters of administration for an intestate estate. Work injury claims under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282) and discrimination claims go to the District Court, not the Tribunal.

• The party particulars sheet records the employer's exact legal name and, for a limited company, the registered office held by the Companies Registry. For a firm it names every partner, because under the Partnership Ordinance (Cap. 38) partners answer jointly for the firm's debts, whatever their partnership agreement under Cap. 38 says between themselves. A P.O. box is not accepted for service.
• The wage arrears schedule lists each wage period, its due date and the amount outstanding, with interest under section 25A. Every deduction is tested against section 32, which allows only a closed list.
• The notice pay calculation applies section 6 to your contract and probation status, then multiplies the notice period by the 12-month average under section 7. Commission and qualifying overtime go into the average, end of year payments stay out, and days paid below full wages, such as sickness days, are disregarded.
• The holiday and leave worksheet covers statutory holiday pay under section 40, annual leave of seven to fourteen days under section 41AA and pro rata leave pay on termination. It uses the holiday list in force each year, as the list grows to 17 days by 2030.
• The severance and long service module checks the qualifying period, applies the two-thirds formula and statutory caps, and splits pre and post-transition portions, like our severance and long service payment calculator for Part VA and VB claims.
• The chronology and evidence index numbers every document, from the offer letter to the last message from your manager.
• The letter of demand cites the sections relied on and reminds the employer that wilful non-payment of wages is an offence under section 63C, for which directors can answer personally under section 64B.

Construction workers employed by a sub-contractor have a second debtor. Under section 43C of Cap. 57, the principal contractor and every superior sub-contractor are liable for the first two months of unpaid wages, provided the worker serves written notice on the principal contractor within 60 days of the wages falling due, a window the Commissioner for Labour can extend by 90 days. Miss the window and only the direct employer, usually the weakest debtor, remains.

Foreign domestic helpers claim under the same Ordinance and the Standard Employment Contract (ID 407). When the contract ends, the helper normally has to leave Hong Kong within two weeks or by the expiry of the permitted stay, whichever comes first, unless the Immigration Department extends the stay as a visitor while the claim is pending. File with the Labour Relations Division before then. Typical items are notice pay, the return passage and the travel allowance home.

Senior employees often bring the largest claims, built on bonuses, commission and long contractual notice. The Tribunal has no upper monetary limit, but section 10 lets it transfer complex proceedings to the District Court or the Court of First Instance, as Vantage Capital Markets HK Ltd v Salles [2025] HKCFI 3516 shows. Where a dismissal follows 24 months of continuous service without a valid reason under Part VIA, the pack adds an employment protection claim, and the Tribunal can order reinstatement without the employer's agreement in unreasonable and unlawful dismissal cases.

Employees of insolvent businesses can win easily and still collect nothing. The Protection of Wages on Insolvency Ordinance (Cap. 380) allows an application to the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund for ex gratia payment of wage arrears, notice pay and severance within statutory limits. The application must be lodged within six months of the last day of service, and the pack flags that date.

You start by telling the form how the employment ended: dismissal with notice, payment in lieu, summary dismissal, resignation, redundancy, or no termination at all because wages are simply overdue. The questionnaire then asks for the three dates that drive every statutory calculation, namely the start date, the date notice was given and the last day of service, followed by every element of your wages for the twelve months before notice. Leave taken and weekly hours follow, to test continuity week by week.

Once the figures are in, the pack compares the amount per claimant with the MECAB ceiling, names the right forum and flags whether conciliation is compulsory. You then enter the employer's details and list your documents. The pack generates the calculation schedule, the chronology, the evidence index, the letter of demand and, where relevant, the severance notice or the section 43C notice, each editable in Word until you print the set.

The error seen most often at conciliation is a notice pay figure built on basic salary alone. A sales employee who leaves commission out of the 12-month average can understate the claim by a third. The second is naming the wrong defendant: the trading name above the shop is rarely the entity that signed the contract, and an award against a dormant shell is worth nothing. The third is waiting while the employer promises to pay next month, until windows such as the three-month severance notice close.

Two further mistakes lose claims outright. Signing a settlement at conciliation without checking it against the statutory figures is one. Section 70 voids terms of the employment contract that cut statutory rights, but a genuine settlement negotiated at termination with fresh consideration falls outside it, as the Court of First Instance noted in [2022] HKCFI 444, so a deal below the statutory figures can still bind you. Missing the call-over hearing is the other: the Presiding Officer may strike the claim out, and restoration requires an application within seven days of the hearing. Bring every original payslip, the employment contract and the termination letter to the Tribunal Officer interview, because Form 2 is drafted from what you produce that day.